Many
RNA viruses have associated incomplete versions called defective
interfering (DI) particles.Such particles caninterfere
with viral replication by overloading the viral replication machinery
and affect other aspects of viral host dynamics. DI particles can be
more readily detected by the host, promoting interferon production
leading to a robust immune response.These
observations suggest a functional role for DI particles which is to
slow down viral propagation and promote latency. Here we produced high
resolution microscopy images of LLCMK2 cells infected with Sendai virus
both with and without DI particles, then developed an agent based
model to gain some insight into the
spatio-temporal infection dynamics.
The model suggests a relationship between the fractal geometry of viral
plaques and their power-law rate of growth. Also the model
supports the
idea that DI particles along with the associated
interferon response
can slow the power-law growth to a logarithmic growth, supporting the
association with latency and hinting at the therapeutic potential of DI
particles.